SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — CEO Tim Cook is directing Apple’s big event Monday in San Francisco, unveiling a new deal between Apple TV and HBO, touting growth in iPhone sales and Apple Pay adoption and other developing products.
Apple cut the price of Apple TV by $30 to $69 and is partnering with HBO to offer its stand-alone streaming service, HBO Go, on Apple devices in time for the “Game of Thrones” premiere April 12. It will cost $14.99 monthly. Cook said 2,500 banks are now signed up with Apple Pay, which is available in 700,000 retail locations nationwide.
Cook is expected to unveil the company’s newest device, the smartwatch, and make the case for why it’s a must-have gadget. Apple teased the smartwatch in September but has given few details. Scheduled to hit the market in April, industry watchers are eager to see if Apple’s version will be the tipping point for the sluggish smartwatch market. There was similar skepticism when Apple released the iPad in 2010, yet the company has successfully sold millions and its popularity has shaken up the PC market.
The stakes are high for a company that just dislodged AT&T as one of the 30 stocks comprising the venerable Dow Jones industrial average. The watch is the first brand-new device Apple has launched without Steve Jobs.
Below is a live blog of the event. All times PDT.
10:15 a.m.
Cook says its Apple Pay mobile-payment service has expanded to 2,500 banks since launching in October with six credit-card issuing banks in the U.S.. The number of merchants accepting Apple Pay has tripled to nearly 700,000 across the U.S. That’s still a small fraction of all the retail outlets out there.
10:12 a.m.
Cook announces a price cut for Apple TV to $69, from $99. He says 25 million units have been sold so far.
The availability of HBO as a stand-alone service comes as more people turn to the Internet to watch television. HBO previously was available on Apple devices, but only with a cable or satellite subscription.
10:10 a.m.
Cook shows a trailer from the upcoming season of “Game of Thrones.”
10:05 a.m.
Cook walks on stage to talk about Apple’s retail stores and offer an update on Apple TV. He’s joined by HBO CEO Richard Plepler to announce that Apple will be the exclusive partner of HBO’s upcoming stand-alone subscription service, HBO Now.
There will be a new HBO Now channel on Apple TV. It will be possible to get it on iPhones and iPads, too. The service will cost $14.99 a month and will be available in early April — in time for the season premiere of “Game of Thrones.”
10 a.m.
The event begins with a video of an Apple store in West Lake, China. Customers holding Apple products cheer as employees count down to the opening of the store in January.
9:55 a.m.
Journalists, industry analysts and Apple guests fill the auditorium of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco for the start of the event.
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